#haris zargar

[indizombie]

According to a study, Behind Bars: Arrest and Detention of Journalists in India 2010-20, by Geeta Seshu, as many as 67 journalists were arrested and nearly 200 physically attacked in 2020. “A sharp rise in criminal cases lodged against journalists in India for their work, with a majority of cases in BJP-ruled states, has contributed to the deterioration in the climate for free speech in India,” the report says. The police arrested, detained, interrogated or served show cause notices to 154 journalists for their professional work between 2010 and 2020, and a little over 40% of these instances were in 2020. Another study, Getting Away With Murder, says there were 40 killings of journalists between 2014 and 2019. “Of these, 21 have been confirmed as related to their journalism.” Journalists have been arrested on “terror” and “conspiracy” charges.

Haris Zargar, 'New hit on Indian independent media and free press', New Frame

[indizombie]

With the farmers’ protest in India gaining international attention, there has been a spike in the assault on media organisations and journalists reporting on the issue. Delhi police picked up freelance journalist Mandeep Punia, a contributor to The Caravan magazine and Junputh news website, and Dharmendra Singh, a reporter with the YouTube news channel Online News India, from the farmers’ protest site at the Singhu border between Haryana and Delhi on 30 January. A video of the moment Punia was detained, which circulated on social media, shows the police violently manhandling him hours after he posted a video on Facebook narrating the protest events held by farmers over increasing privatisation in farming. Kerala-based freelance journalist Siddique Kappan was arrested in October last year under the UAPA for allegedly attempting to create social tension. He was arrested on his way to the Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh to report on the death of a 19-year-old Dalit girl. Another journalist, Prashant Rahi, has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for charges related to unlawful activities, waging war against the state and sedition.

Haris Zargar, 'New hit on Indian independent media and free press', New Frame

[indizombie]

India’s National Investigation Agency raided the offices of the Greater Kashmir local newspaper and the residence of AFP news agency journalist Parvaiz Bukhari last year. And state authorities sealed the offices of the oldest English daily in the region, the Kashmir Times, for its critical reportage. Kashmiri photojournalist Masrat Zahra and columnist Gowhar Geelani were charged in April last year under the anti-terror law for “indulging in unlawful activities” through posts on social media. Journalist Auqib Javeed was allegedly slapped at a police station in September after being summoned for writing a story about the cyber cell of the police intimidating Twitter users. The police have beaten other journalists while they are on reporting assignments, and confiscated their phones and cameras. The news editor of The Kashmiriyat website, Qazi Shibli, was arrested in August 2019 for tweets in which he posted an official order regarding the deployment of additional paramilitary troopers across Jammu and Kashmir. Ghulam Jeelani Qadri, a journalist and the publisher of Urdu-language newspaper Daily Afaaq from Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, was arrested in June 2019 on charges under the now lapsed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1985.

Haris Zargar, 'New hit on Indian independent media and free press', New Frame